Then a person with an infectious skin disease came to Jesus and, kneeling down before Him, begged Him, saying, "If you want to, you can heal me." [Note: Throughout this narrative the term "heal/healing" is originally "clean/cleansing" because the Jews viewed a person with such a disease as ceremonially "unclean." See Lev. 13:1-3].

Then some people came, bringing a man afflicted with paralysis, who was being carried by four friends.

Then Jesus went out again, walking along the shore of the lake, and [when] all the crowd came out to Him, He taught them.

Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, [i.e., going without food and/or drink for religious reasons]. Some people came and asked Jesus, "Why do John's disciples and the Pharisees' disciples fast, but your disciples do not?"

Jerusalem, Idumaea, the east side of the Jordan River, and from around Tyre and Sidon [i.e., cities on the northwest coast of Palestine] came to Him, having heard about the great things [i.e., miracles] He had been performing.

He then went up into the mountain and summoned those He wanted to come to Him and they came.

Then Jesus' mother and [half-] brothers came and stood outside [i.e., of a large house. See Matt. 12:46-13:1]. They sent a message to Him, asking Him to come out to them.

and it happened, as he sowed [i.e., scattering the seed by hand], some of it fell by the side of the road and birds came and ate it.

But when the sun came up the newly sprouted plants were scorched, and because they had no roots, [soon] withered away.

When evening came that day He said to the disciples, "Let us go over to the other side [i.e., the east side of Lake Galilee]."

He [immediately] awoke and spoke sternly to the wind and called out to the water, "Be peaceful and still." [Immediately] the wind stopped blowing and a great calm came over the water.

When Jesus left the boat, immediately a man with an evil spirit came from the graveyard to meet Him.

Those who had been feeding them ran and told what all occurred in the town and around the countryside and [so] people came to find out what had happened.

And when people came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been dominated by 5,000 to 6,000 evil spirits sitting down with his clothes on and perfectly sane, and they were afraid.

About then a man named Jairus, one of the officials of the synagogue, came to Jesus and, upon seeing Him, fell to the ground at His feet.

Then a woman, who had been bleeding for twelve years, came to Him.

She had heard what Jesus was doing so came from the crowd behind Jesus and touched His robe.

But the woman became afraid and trembled with fear, for she knew what had happened to her [i.e., the healing], so she came and fell down in front of Jesus and told Him the whole truth.

While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the synagogue official's house and said [to the official], "Your daughter is dead; why are you bothering the Teacher any more?"

They laughed at Him scornfully. But after having all the people wait outside He took the child's father and mother, along with those who came with Him [i.e., Peter, James and John] and went in to where the [dead] child lay.

Then Jesus went out from there and came to His home town [i.e., Nazareth] and His disciples went with Him.

And when the Sabbath day came, He began teaching in the synagogue and many who heard Him were amazed, and asked [such questions as], "Where did this man get these things [i.e., knowledge, miracles, etc.]?" and "What kind of wisdom has been given to him?" and "What do these supernatural powers he performs mean?

And when Herodias' daughter [Note: According to Josephus her name was Salome] came in and danced [in front of them, sensually], she pleased Herod and his party guests so much that the king said to the young woman, "Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you."

And when the day was nearly over His disciples came to Him and said, "This place is deserted and the day is almost over;

When evening came the boat [containing His disciples] was in the middle of the lake while He remained alone on the shore.

When He saw how distressed His disciples were, rowing against an opposing wind, Jesus came to them between three and six o'clock in the morning, walking on the water, and almost walked past them.

But just then a woman whose little daughter was dominated by an evil spirit heard about Jesus and came and fell down at His feet.

The Pharisees and Sadducees [i.e., these were strict sects of the Jewish religion], came out and began disputing with Jesus, asking for a [supernatural] sign from Him, [in an attempt] to test Him.

And when they came to Bethsaida some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged Him to touch him [i.e., for healing].

The spirit shrieked and caused violent convulsions [in the boy], then came out of him. The boy appeared to be dead, so that most of the people were saying, "He is dead."

Then Jesus and His disciples came to Capernaum [Note: This city on the northwest shore of Lake Galilee had become sort of a headquarters for Jesus when He was in this region]. When He [and His disciples] entered a house He asked them, "What were you discussing on the way here?"

Some Pharisees [i.e., a strict sect of the Jewish religion] came to Him [and attempted] to test Him by asking, "Is it permissible by the law of Moses for a man to divorce his wife?"

Now James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over to Jesus and said to Him, "We would like you to do for us whatever we ask you."

Then they [i.e., Jesus and the twelve apostles] came to Jericho [Note: This was a town about

And when they [all] approached Jerusalem, and came close to Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives [Note: These small villages were about two miles east of Jerusalem], He sent two of His disciples on ahead,

And the people who walked ahead of Him and followed behind shouted, "Hosanna [Note: The Syriac word 'Hosanna' originally meant 'save now' but came to be used as an expression of welcome, praise, blessing or acclamation], may He who comes in the name [i.e., by the authority] of the Lord, be blessed.

Jesus and His disciples again came to Jerusalem. As He was walking in the Temple [area] the leading priests, experts in the law of Moses and [Jewish] elders came to Him

And when the [grape harvest] season came, the owner of the farm sent a slave to the tenant farmers asking them to deliver the grape crop [to him].

Then some Sadducees, [the ones] who say there is no resurrection [of the dead], came and asked Him,

Then one of the experts in the law of Moses [Note: Matt. 22:34 identifies him as being a Pharisee also], came and heard Jesus and the Sadducees discussing together [i.e., the subject of the resurrection], and knowing that Jesus had refuted the Sadducees successfully, asked Him, "Which commandment is foremost, above all the others?"

A poor widow came and threw in two small copper coins [Note: These two coins each amounted to about ten minutes' worth of a farm laborer's pay, or about one dollar in 1994]. The total she gave was equivalent to a larger coin [i.e., worth twice as much].

And while Jesus was in Bethany [Note: This was a small village fewer than two miles east of Jerusalem], sitting at the dinner table in the house of Simon, the man with an infectious skin disease [Note: This man had probably been healed by now], a woman with an alabaster [i.e., stone] jar of very expensive perfume came to Him, broke the jar and poured the perfume on His head.

When evening came, Jesus arrived [at the upstairs room] with the twelve apostles.

Jesus and His disciples came to a place called Gethsemene [Note: This was an olive orchard on a hillside just east of Jerusalem]. He said to His disciples, "You sit here while I [go away and] pray."

And when He came back and found His disciples sleeping He said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not stay alert [in prayer] for one hour?

Then He came back again and found His disciples still asleep, because they had not been able to keep their eyes open at all.

And He came back a third time and said to them, "Go ahead and sleep now and get your rest. That is enough; the time has come. See, the Son of man is about to be turned over into the hands of sinners.

And immediately, as Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve apostles came with a crowd who were carrying swords and clubs. [They had come] from the leading priests, the experts in the law of Moses and the [Jewish] elders.

And when Judas came, immediately he went to Jesus and said, "Rabbi," and then kissed Him [enthusiastically].

Then they led Jesus away to the head priest, and all the leading priests, [Jewish] elders and experts in the law of Moses came together with Him.

Now when Peter was in the courtyard downstairs [i.e., from where the Sanhedrin was having its meeting. See verse 55], one of the head priest's servant girls came in,

Now it happened that when Zacharias' turn came in his division,

And when he [finally] came out, he was not able to talk to them. Then they realized he had seen a vision while in the Temple. So, he remained a mute and had to make [hand] signs to them [i.e., in order to be understood].

The angel came to her and said, "Greetings, you are someone greatly favored [i.e., by God]; the Lord is with you."

And it happened on the eighth day [i.e., since the baby was born] that they came to circumcise the child [i.e., to perform the Jewish rite of identity, signifying the responsibility to observe the law of Moses]. And they [i.e., probably the neighbors and/or relatives of Elizabeth and Zacharias] suggested that they name him Zacharias, after his father.

And it happened while they were there that the due date came for her to have the baby.

They came to offer a sacrifice of two doves or two young pigeons, in accordance with what is written in the law of Moses.

She came forward at that very time and thanked God [in prayer] and spoke about the child [Jesus] to everyone [in the Temple area] who was expecting the redemption of the people of Jerusalem [i.e., their liberation from sin].

[During this time], while Annas and Caiaphas [Note: This man was Annas' son-in-law. See John 18:13] were head priests, God's message came to John [the Immerser], son of Zacharias, [when he was] in the desert [of Judea].

Then some tax collectors came to him to be immersed and asked him, "Teacher, what must we do [i.e., to demonstrate our repentance]?"

and the Holy Spirit came down on Him in a physical form, as a dove, and a voice spoke out of heaven [saying], "You are my dearly loved Son. I am very pleased with you."

Then Jesus spoke sternly to the evil spirit [in the man], saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him." And when the evil spirit had thrown the man down in front of them, it came out of him, without causing any harm.

And evil spirits also came out of many people, shouting [at Him], "You are the Son of God." And Jesus spoke sternly to them and would not allow them to speak [anymore] because they knew He was the Christ [Note: Jesus would not accept the endorsement of these Satanic spirits].

So, they motioned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. When they came, they filled both boats until they began to sink.

Then He came down [from the mountain] with them and stood on a level place [where] a large crowd of His disciples and a large group of people had gathered to hear Him and be healed from their diseases.

He is like a man building a house, who dug deep to lay the foundation on rock. And when a flood came the river pounded against that house, but could not shake it because it had been well built.

And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying, "This officer deserves that you should do this for him [i.e., heal his slave],

And when these men came to Jesus they said, "John the Immerser has sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?'"

For when John the Immerser came, he did not eat bread or drink wine [on festive occasions] and you said, 'He is dominated by an evil spirit.'

[Then] the Son of man came eating and drinking [at festive occasions] and you said, 'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and worldly people.'

Then Jesus turned to the woman [who had just poured the perfume on Him] and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house and you did not give me any water for [washing] my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them dry with her hair.

You did not give me a kiss [of greeting], but from the time I came in [to your house] she has not stopped kissing my feet.

A farmer went out [to his field] to plant grain. And as he sowed [i.e., scattering seeds by hand], some of it landed along side of the road; it was stepped on by people and [eventually] birds of the sky came and ate it.

Then Jesus' mother and [half-] brothers came to Him, but they could not get near Him because of the [large] crowd.

People went out to see [i.e., to find out] what had happened. And [when] they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the evil spirits had been driven out sitting down at Jesus' feet with his clothes on and perfectly sane, they were afraid.

And just then an official of the [Jewish] synagogue named Jairus came to Him and fell at His feet [i.e., worshiping. See Matt. 9:18] and begged Him to go to his house,

came up behind Jesus and touched the edge of His robe. Immediately her bleeding stopped.

And when the woman realized that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling [with fear] and fell down in front of Him, declaring before all the people why she had touched Him and how she had been immediately healed.

While He was still speaking, someone came from the synagogue official's house, saying [to him], "Your daughter is dead; do not bother the Teacher."

And when Jesus came to the [synagogue official's] house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him except Peter, James, John and the girl's father and mother.

Then late in the day the twelve apostles came and said to Jesus, "Send the crowd away so they can go into the villages and the surrounding countryside to find lodging and food because this place is deserted."

And it happened when the time came for Jesus to be taken up [to heaven] that He firmly determined to go to Jerusalem.

But [then] a certain Samaritan [Note: This was a person despised by the Jews and regarded by them as a 'half-breed'], as he traveled along, came to where the [injured] man was [lying], and upon seeing him [lying there], felt deep pity [for him].

But Martha was preoccupied with all the preparations [i.e., for entertaining her beloved guest] and came up to Jesus and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Ask her to help me."

"When an evil spirit has been driven out of a man, it roams through desert regions trying to find rest, but [when it] cannot find any, it says [to itself], 'I will return to my house from which I came [i.e., the body of the person it dominated].'

The queen of the South [Note: This queen was from Sheba, which was probably in Arabia. See I Kings 10:1] will stand up on the judgment day, along with the people of this generation, and will condemn them because she came from a great distance to hear [and see] Solomon's wisdom [I Kings 10:1ff] and [now] Someone greater than Solomon is here [i.e., Jesus].

Do you think that I came to bring [only] peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but division instead.

Then He told them this parable: A certain man had a fig tree [which had been] planted in his orchard. When he came looking for figs on it, he did not find any.

Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, leaving you standing outside knocking on the door, [and] saying, 'Sir, [please] open [the door] for us.' and he answers you, 'I do not know you or where you came from,'

And He will say [i.e., the Lord is represented as saying this in the judgment. See Matt. 7:23; 8:11-12], 'I tell you, I do not know where you came from, [so] go away from me, all you people who have done sinful things.'

At that very time certain Pharisees came to Jesus saying, "Get out of here and go someplace else, for King Herod wants to kill you."

But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread to eat, and here I am, dying from hunger!

Now the father's older son was [out] in the field. And when he came in and got close to the house he heard music and dancing.

But the older son got angry and refused to go into [the house]. So, his father came out and pleaded with him [i.e., to come in and join the celebration].

But when this son of yours came [home], after having squandered all you gave him on prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.'

He longed to be fed with scraps that fell from the rich man's table and even dogs came and licked his sores.

People were eating and drinking and [men were] marrying and [women] were being given away in marriage [right up] until the day that Noah entered the ship and the Flood came and drowned them all.

So, Jesus stopped and ordered the beggar to be brought to Him. And when he came near, Jesus asked him,

And when Jesus came to the tree, He said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down [from that tree], for I need to stay at your house today."

So, he came down immediately and welcomed Jesus gladly.